Not far from Jacksonville, Ill., Ronald Reagan stood in front of a farm
wagon piled high with freshly harvested corn, defied the cold winds and
predicted a warm economic climate just ahead. "It takes gumption to
stick with longer-term solutions," he declared during a denunciation of
the economic policies of past Democratic Administrations. "I don't want
to go back. Do you?" Standing ankle-deep in the dark mud, about 4,000
farmers murmured no. Like the rest of the nation, even this partisan
campaign crowd sounded...